


What's a Siren Without a Voice?

by tamaranianprincess



Series: A Mandalorian's Siren [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Cara Dune is a lesbian dont fight me on this, Cliff hangers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rough Sex, Sign Language, Slow Burn, Smut, Soft Din Djarin, Touching, brief mentions of genocide, loosely, minor edging, navarro - Freeform, rated pg for now but will change in the future, reader is based off of Ryn from Siren, skin sickness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:47:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28908822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamaranianprincess/pseuds/tamaranianprincess
Summary: During a routine stop for supplies, Mando comes across a creature that's half fish and half human. It's something he's never seen before. She becomes another passenger on the Razor Crest.Art with each (or most) chapters!**Rating now changed to Mature for smut**
Relationships: Din Djarin/Original Female Character(s), Din Djarin/Reader, Din Djarin/You, Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s), Pedro Pascal/Original Female Character(s), Pedro Pascal/Reader, Pedro Pascal/You, Reader/Original Female Character(s), The Mandalorian/Original Female Character(s), The Mandalorian/Reader, The Mandalorian/You
Series: A Mandalorian's Siren [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150157
Comments: 24
Kudos: 101





	1. The Siren

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So I came up with this fic with a friend. I have half of it planned out, I'm hoping to actually finish this. The chapter length may change when we get closer to the end, but I'll let you know if it does! Right now its a PG rating but there will be at least one chapter of smut later on so ratings and warnings are subject to change.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @ starkdanverss
> 
> Art done by @ edgyvege on tumblr!

Mando followed Krof’gr and Platra to the cantina where he first met them yesterday. He landed the ship for a few repairs and to buy some supplies; maybe grab a quick job for a few credits.

He met the couple when he asked if there were any bounties he could pick up, and while there weren’t any bounties, they needed help killing a creature that regularly wreaked havoc on their small water-side town. They were so desperate that they offered repairs, fuel, rations, and anything of his choosing in their ‘treasure room’.

Whatever the hell that meant.

So, with the Opee Sea Killer dead and the town already going to work on harvesting parts from it, Mando stood in front of a door off of a hidden back hallway in the back of the cantina. The location of it was suspicious from the beginning, but the door required three different keys and a biometric scan for it to even open.

“Okay Mando, true to our word, you may choose anything out of this room.” Krof’gr said as he opened the door and stepped to the side to let the taller man through.

Okay, so Mando’s initial thoughts about these two were definitely correct. Shady as hell, definitely thieves. Or smugglers.

The room was filled to the brim with junk and not-junk. All of which would be valuable to the right person. The Mandalorian walked through the cramped aisles of the small room, looking at each shelf. Jewelry, ship parts, spice, clothes, anything you could think of.

Something fell as he turned the corner, but his fast reflexes allowed him to catch it before it hit the ground. He inspected it in his hand. A small ceramic hairbrush with pink yellow flowers littering the back. 

Cute. He thought to himself. As he went to set it back onto a shelf, a small sliver of blueish light caught his eye. It was reflecting onto the floor from a few feet away. He inspected the cause of the light, seeing a small, barred off window in the corner on the other side of the room. The sun was setting, sending in rays of light that hit some sort of glass.

As he walked towards it he noticed the couple, who were still standing at the entrance to the room, begin to fidget. He stepped in front of something long and rectangular that was covered with a thick blanket.

“Don’t mind that ol’ thing, Mando. Just a tank full of water. We have fish in there sometimes.” Platra called to him.

He turned to look at them, before turning back and pulling the blanket off the supposed tank.

Indeed it was a tank.

A tank that housed a woman.

Or, maybe it wasn’t a woman? It’s lower half was that of a fish’s, but the upper half was definitely, or mostly, human.

Long blue hair spilled from her head, shimmering in the sun that was now shining on her. She looked up at the man clad in armor, fear marking every feature in her face. He knelt down to look at her closer, placing a gloved hand on the glass pane that separated them. The fish girl tilted her head, and copied the movement, placing her webbed hand on top of his.

“Her.” Is all he says.

***

At first the seedy couple tried to convince Mando not to take the girl, first saying that she wasn’t worth much, and nothing to him. Then changing their story to her being worth so much that she couldn’t bear to lose her. But after threatening the two with turning them in for trafficking and thievery, they reluctantly gave in. After all, who were they to pick a fight with a Mandalorian?

They covered the tank in the blanket once again and moved it to the Razor Crest. After getting it into the hull, as well as filling the tank and giving the Mandalorian his rations as promised, the bounty hunter closed the ramp and opened the door to Grogu’s small nest in the wall.

“Hey, kid,” He said as he pulled the baby from his hammock and placed him on the ground, “I have someone for you to meet,” He walks over to the tank and pulls the blanket off once more.

The girl’s eyes immediately find him, tracking him as he kneels down like he did earlier.

He picks up the kid and settles him on his lap, “This is,” He begins, then realizes he doesn’t know her name. Did she even have one? Could she speak? “This is our new friend.”

Grogu leans closer to the glass and places his tiny hands on it, mimicking his father’s actions from earlier in the day. And just the same, the girl placed her hands on the other side of the glass pane where Grugu’s tiny hands lay. A loud giggle came from the child, subsequently making the girl’s face morph into something resembling joy.

It was strange. The girl’s entire being seemed to be that of an apex predator. Her sharp fins, pointed nails connected to webbed fingers, teeth that could bite through the toughest of meat, and eyes that seemed to lure you in.

But she just seemed scared. Tired. And he had yet to hear her make a noise. Shouldn’t she have been screaming for help when he found her? But here he was, knelt on the floor of the hull with his son standing on his lap and making cooing sounds at her as she made faces back. He suddenly wishes he could hear her speak.

“Okay, kid. We need to take off before they change their minds,” Mando says as he stands, holding the kid in his arms. He looks down at the girl, who looks confused. She can hear, right? “I’m gonna take off and get us into hyperspace, get you far away from here. Okay?”

Her lilac eyes stare back at him, and for a moment he thinks that maybe she can’t actually hear. Maybe she just knew Grogu was happy from his expressions.

But suddenly she’s nodding at him, floating to the bottom of the tank and curling up as if she’s going to go to sleep. Mando nods to himself and climbs the ladder to the cockpit, then places Grogu in the passenger seat, buckling him in. He sits in the pilot seat himself and begins flipping switches and pressing buttons to begin their ascent off of Naboo.

It’s a rough start, he expected it though. It was a small town, he didn’t expect them to make high level repairs. He sets their coordinates for Navarro. Maybe Cara or Karga would be able to help him with his new passenger, since he knew nothing about her or her species. On top of that, he was pretty sure she couldn’t speak either.

After safely entering hyperspace, Mando heats up some rations for him and Grogu and settles into the cockpit to eat. With his helmet off he smiles at Grogu, who makes a cooing sound back and twitches his ears in a way Mando has learned means the baby is happy.

As he takes a bite of his food, he thinks back to the girl down in the hull. Does she eat? She has to, and she must be hungry. What could he give to her to eat-

Suddenly there’s a bang and a subsequent thud, followed by another bang. Quick as light, Mando places his helmet back on and picks up the child, placing him in his floating cradle.

He jumps down into the hull, not even bothering with the ladder. But what he sees isn’t what he was expecting.

The lid of the tank is on the ground, cracked down the middle. The tank itself is half turned on its side, caught on a crate, with about three fourths of the water missing from its contents. What was also missing from inside was the girl, who was now lying on the ground, mouth open as if she were screaming, but now sound escaped. 

Mando raced to her side, going to pick her up, but she flailed out of his grasp. She held a hand out, in the universal signal of ‘stop’. At first he didn’t understand, but then he noticed that her hand was no longer webbed. Her nails were a normal length, fins no longer lined her arms. Din watched in horror and amazement as he watched her bones seemingly break and reform. Fins and scales smoothing into human skin. Her teeth morphing into regular human teeth. He watched as her tail disintegrated, becoming two human legs. He looked back at her face, seeing a much darker hue of purple than before color her irises.

Looking back at him was a beautiful human woman.


	2. The Siren Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mando has to adjust to having a human woman on the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't expect to have chapter 2 out so soon but I am zooming through! I'm in love with this story and I have to give a big shoutout to @ edgyvege on tumblr for the art, beta reading, and giving me so many ideas; and to @ pedro-pascal-love on tumblr for helping me with Star Wars lore since I haven't actually watched the movies yet. I'm now thinking this is gonna be longer than ten chapters but we shall see! I hope you like it! The rating for this chapter has bumped up to PG-13.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @ starkdanverss !

Mando and The Girl look at each other for a few long moments. His helmet reads her body temperature at a significantly higher number than when she was as a… fish-girl? His eyes move down her form and he sees two human legs, instead of the large turquoise tail she had just moments ago. But on top of that, he sees her backside. He quickly turns his head to the side, only now registering that she is completely naked in front of him.

“Uh,” He falters, “Let me grab you a blanket,” He stands from his position on the ground, knees cracking as he does. Keeping his head turned away, he grabs a blanket from the cot in the wall below Grogu’s hammock. Turning to where he knows she’s laying, he kneels slightly and hands her the blanket.

As soon as she takes it from him, he turns and faces away to give her privacy as she covers herself. Once he no longer hears her shuffling, he slowly turns back to see her standing, one hand fisted in the blanket to hold it in place. It’s then that he really notices the water from the tank that’s basically flooding the hull. Silently, he moves past her and lifts the tank back up, setting it upright, moving it easily with his strength. Then he carefully grabs the cracked lid and gently places it back on top of the tank. Looking around, he makes sure that there’s nothing on the ground that can sustain water damage.

“Looks like we’ll have to spend most of our time in the cockpit,” He tells her as he looks back up. Except her face is no longer that of curiosity, it’s morphed back into the fear stricken features he first saw her with, “Hey, don’t worry. It’s okay,” He tells her quietly, carefully moving closer but stopping when she’s just out of reach, “Nothing is damaged. We’ll just have to wait until we reach Navarro, then we can clean it up. No big deal.”

He watches as the fear begins to slowly melt off her face, and she nods. 

“Okay,” He begins again, “Are you hungry?” 

_What a stupid question, of course she is._

She looks at him apprehensively, then looks at the floor and shifts her weight to one of her feet.

_She’s scared._ He thinks. _Maker knows how long she’s been captive. She’s probably scared to do anything._

“You don’t have to be afraid anymore. I know I took you from that planet, but I only wanted to get you away from those criminals. I promise I won’t hurt you,” He assures her, “Let me grab you some food, why don’t you head up the ladder into the cockpit and I’ll be up in a few. Im sure Grogu will be happy to see you.”

At the mention of The Child, The Girl’s face lights up. She nods and turns, grabbing onto the ladder and slowly climbing with one hand since the other was still fisted in the blanket. As she climbs, her naked legs fall out of the blanket with each step, making Mando turn his head again.

Clothes. She needs clothes.

***

While the food is heating up, Mando opens a box containing some clothes of his. He rummages through to find the smallest shirt and pants he can find, which is definitely still going to be too big on The Girl. He goes through a few more boxes until he finds a string and two pins.

With the clothes in one arm, he grabs the food and sets it on top of the small pile he’s holding and heads back up into the cockpit. When he gets there he sees The Girl in the passenger seat, blanket still wrapped around her, with Grogu in her lap. He’s playing with her hair and giggling. Oddly, the scene warms Mando’s heart.

_Stop it,_ he tells himself, _she needs to go back to her family._

He sets the food down and takes a seat, turning to face the two.

“I grabbed you some clothes so you don’t have to spend the next few days holding a blanket around you,” He gently grabs his kid, who makes a small noise of complaint, and places the clothes on her her lap, “They’re definitely too big, but they’ll have to do for now. When we get to Navarro we can get you some clothes that fit.”

She nods, and he turns his chair to stare out the window to give her privacy. He’s focusing on the streaks the stars leave as they fly through hyperspace when he sees movement. His brain, trained to know the source of any movement around him, immediately moves his eyes to the moving reflection in the window. He immediately regrets it, seeing The Girl’s completely naked figure standing behind him. He closes his eyes, willing the image out of his mind.

After a few long, and albeit awkward moments, there's a tap on his shoulder. He swivels his chair to see her standing in front of him, hands clutched onto the much too big pants.

Mando places Grogu into the passenger seat then faces her, “Come here,” and after a second she does as told, stepping closer to the man in front of her. Mando pulls the string and pins from his pockets, “Let me tighten these so they don’t fall,” He reaches out, but doesn’t touch her. He looks up into her deep purple eyes, “I have to touch you to do this. Is that okay?”

She cocks her head slightly, in what seems like confusion, before she nods.

He nods back, “Okay,” He takes hold of the pant waist, “Pull your shirt up a little bit,”

She does, and he's suddenly face to face with the skin of her belly. It’s smooth, unmarred. Which is strange, usually creatures in captivity have a few scars. Her skin has a sheen to it, like it’s iridescent in the light. It’s sunken, though, like she’s been starved.

_Focus._ He tells himself, willing the want running through his veins to disappear.

He gently rolls the pants up several times at the waist. When the pantlegs are no longer covering her feet but are still brushing the floor, he wraps the string around her hips, just below where the pants are now bunched. He then grabs a pin, but she jumps out of his grasp.

Mando jumps slightly, not expecting her to make such a sudden movement. When he looks up, she’s looking down at the pin in his hand in absolute horror. It takes him a moment to realize his mistake.

“This is going to help hold the pants in place so they don't loosen too much. I’m not going to stick you with it, I promise.”

She looks at the pin for a while longer, Mando holding still the entire time, before she looks back up into his eyes.

He takes that as progress, “Remember what I said. I’m not going to hurt you. I want to protect you.”

She bites her lip but nods, stepping back into place in front of him.

Mando decides to take off his gloves to make sure there’s less of a chance of accidentally poking her. He then moves again and carefully pins the rolled waist of the pants on either side of her. His fingers accidentally graze her skin, and she’s _so warm_. His fingers begin to tingle and he has to internally scream at himself to focus on the task at hand. When he’s finished, he pulls the legs gently to make sure they don’t loosen too much.

“Okay, I’d say they’re good for now,” He says and grabs the food he set down earlier, handing it to her and grabbing Grogu from the seat he was placed in a few minutes earlier so that The Girl can sit, “Go ahead and eat, I’m sure you’re hungry.”

She sits back down and starts to eat, and Mando turns away to give her some more privacy, this time purposefully _not_ looking at the movement in the window.

He looks down at his son, who is craning himself to look at his new friend.

Mando repositions him, “You’ve already ate, kid. And it’s not polite to stare while others eat.”

He hears a harsh breath behind him, and against his better judgement he looks at her reflection, and he finds a smile. Was that her version of a laugh?


	3. Hidden Talents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hyperdrive blows while the trio are on their way to Navarro, causing other issues with the Razor Crest as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyoo! Here is chapter three! I'm having so much fun with this series and I hope you all are too! 
> 
> Shoutouts to @ edgyvege on tumblr for being my story artist, beta reader, and co creator; and to @ pedro-pascal-love on tumblr for helping me with Star Wars lore that I needed to know!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @ starkdanverss!

Her ears are pointed, he notes.

She fell asleep a few hours ago, and has barely stirred since. She probably hasn’t had a good night’s rest in a long time, Mando thinks to himself.

He also thinks about the incident with the pins. She was terrified, like she thought he was going to stick her with it. She must have been experimented on, at the very least. But there’s no visible marks on her that he’s been able to see, which is odd in and of itself.

Still, she trusts him. Albeit reluctantly.

Grogu had climbed into her lap shortly after she fell asleep, and fell asleep with her. They were now snuggled in the passenger seat, the original blanket now draped over them.

It made Mando’s heart swell, against his own will. She was beautiful, and so good with the kid. He knew he shouldn’t, but he wanted her to stay. He’s never felt this way about anyone, but he felt like there was some sort of invisible tether between them.

_What the hell is wrong with you? You don’t even know her name._

Mando groans, he knows he’s in trouble. But he also, kind of doesn’t care.

Suddenly there’s a small alarm, followed by the entire ship jolting as if it’s been hit.

The stars stop streaking past and come to a stand still. Mando pulls up a holoscreen that’s highlighting different parts of the ship in red.

“Dank Farrik!” He snaps as he slams a fist onto the dashboard.

A small noise of confusion is heard behind him and he then remembers his guest. He quickly looks behind him and sees The Girl clutching onto Grogu, fear etching her features yet again.

“I’m sorry,” He apologizes, “I didn’t mean to frighten you, I lost my temper,” He offers, but doesn’t wait for a reaction as he turns back to the front, “The hyperdrive failed and our left engine broke when we dropped out of hyperspace,” He’s flicking switches as he looks over his shoulder to the broken engine, pressing buttons in an attempt to bring the engine back to life, but to no avail.

He falls back into his seat and sighs, giving himself a moment to process the situation. In hyperspace, Navarro is still about two days away. Outside hyperspace it’s about a week and a half. With only one engine?

They don’t have the rations for that.

“I’ll be right back,” Mando says as he stands and heads back down to the hull. He opens a panel on the wall to his left, revealing several wires and a motherboard. He hooks a finger around the green wire, the one that connects to the machinery for the left engine. It’s charred black in a few areas.

Okay, this Mando could deal with. He rummages around a tool box and finds another wire, a small soldering gun, and some shears.

Glad he already switched the engine off while in the cockpit, he reaches up into the wall and cuts the wire, hoping most of the damage was sustained down where he could see. He then peels away the rubber from the end of the original wire that's still intact and the extra one that he grabbed from the tool box. He twists the ends together, then solders them together. He cuts off the extra length and solders an adapter to the other end and plugs it back into the motherboard. He pulls at both ends, and when he is satisfied that they won’t come loose, he shuts the panel and locks it back up. Tossing the tools back in their box, he packs it up and brings it with him to the cockpit.

Now he had to deal with the hyperdrive.

When he pulls himself up into the room, he sees Grogu sitting on the passenger seat, but The Girl is in the pilot’s seat messing with some wires under the dashboard.

“What are you doing?” He asks, mindful of his tone. He doesn’t want her thinking he’s angry. Though part of him is frustrated with someone else messing with his ship, he’s also curious.

She jumps and turns to look at him, but he doesn’t seem scared. She points to the dashboard.

“Yeah, I see. The hyperdrive is shot. But what are you doing?”

She breathes out in frustration, probably from not being able to communicate properly. Then she sits up, and presses the button for the holoscreen, showing the hyperdrive is still offline. She points to it and looks at Mando, then points to the space below the dashboard that she occupied when he first came back up.

Mando crosses the space between them and kneels beside her, looking at what she is trying to show him. She pulls at the yellow wire that connects the hyperdrive to its own motherboard. It comes off easily, and she makes the sign for ‘small’ with her thumb and index finger, shaking her head.

“It’s small?” He asks, not sure what she’s meaning.

She nods, then makes the space between her two fingers bigger, nodding her head. The man is confused, and tilts his head.

She huffs, then tries again. She makes the sign for ‘small’ again and shakes her head, then makes the space between her fingers bigger and nods her head, then points to the wire.

He’s quiet for a second before asking, “The wire is too small?”

Her face beams and she nods her head excitedly.

He takes the wire from her hands and looks over it, and his memory finally fills in the gaps. He doesn’t mess with the hyperdrive much, but he does remember the wire being significantly larger before.

“The charge must have been too strong and burned through,” He says to himself, but then sees The Girl nodding yet again. He looks up at her, “You know how to repair ships?” He asks. She must have to, with how she found the issue so easily. An issue he probably wouldn’t have clocked without her pointing it out.

She smiles and moves her hand flat, as if saying ‘so-so’. She then points to the wiring under the dashboard and nods, then opens the toolbox Mando brought over and pulls out a screwdriver and shakes her head.

Now familiar with how she’s trying to communicate, this information is easier to decode.

“You’re good with the electrical stuff, but not the mechanical?” He asks.

And her face beams even brighter than before as she nods.

“Okay, well, would you mind fixing it for me?” He asks, and she looks delighted as she rummages through the toolbox for what she needs. He sits back and watches her work, her seemingly dainty hands moving as if she’s done this a thousand times before.

Grogu pats his father’s head, wanting attention, and the man reaches up for him and pulls the baby into his lap.

He thinks to himself again, about how her hands are void of any type of callous, burn, or scar. But if she has enough experience in electrical engineering to be able to immediately point out and subsequently fix a pre Empire hyperdrive, then surely she should have proof of that somewhere on her hands.

Then he remembers that, even though she looks it now, she's not actually human. He doesn’t know what her race is. Maybe she can heal any sort of wound? It would explain her perfect skin even though she was just rescued from captivity.

Mando loses track of time, just watching The Girl work on the hyperdrive. He thinks about what she may have been through, where her family is, if she’d be willing to stay with him. She’s good with his ship and his kid, she’d be a valuable asset to his clan.

_Crew!_ He corrects himself.

He thinks about what would happen if she did stay. She can’t speak, but it doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem. She understands Basic, so the language barrier isn’t too wide. Maybe after a while, they’d grow closer. He thinks about what it would be like to hold her, kiss her, have her…

He’s brought back to reality when she drops a tool back into the box and closes it. She gives him a thumbs up and stands, moving away from the dashboard.

He stands too, and he hands Grogu off to her as they switch places.

“Hold on tight,” He says, but reaches an arm back to anchor her anyways.

She holds onto his arm, which isn’t something he was expecting, and he’s proud of himself when his actions don’t stutter at her touch.

He flicks the switch to turn on the left engine once more, and is pleased as he hears it hum to life. A few more switches and buttons later, he grabs onto the hyperdrive lever and pushes, the familiar feel of jumping into hyperspace making him smile.

He looks back and sees a matching smile on The Girl, her eyes reflecting the stars that now streak past them once again.


	4. The Sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Girl has been out of water for a while, and it’s starting to catch up to her. In a moment of frustration, her and Mando learn they have something in common.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter four!!! Y’all I have so many chapters written I’m so excited for this to continue! Shoutouts to @ edgyvege on tumblr for being my story artist, beta reader, and co creator; and to @ pedro-pascal-love on tumblr for helping me with Star Wars lore that I needed to know!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @ starkdanverss!

Things had gone smoothly the next two days. They didn’t converse much, obviously, but The Girl became a lot more comfortable asking for things that she needed.

They were a few short hours from landing on Navarro. Din was in the pilot’s seat with Grogu in his lap, feeding the kid a small snack. The Girl had left a while ago down into the hull, he assumed to use the fresher. 

But she’s never taken so long before, and he was starting to worry. He stood up and placed Grogu in the passenger seat, handing him his favorite knob from the dashboard to chew on while he went down to check on her.

He climbed down the ladder, silently landing on the floor of the hull. He turned to see The Girl trying to lift the lid off of the tank, he back facing him.

“Do you need help?” He asked her, walking closer. She jumped and turned to him, her hands hidden behind her back.

_Odd._

“Do you need help?” He asked again, “I can lift if off-”

She immediately shakes her head and moves to walk past him, but he grabs her wrist on instinct.

“Hey,” 

She hisses, actually _hisses,_ and pulls her wrist away, cradling it to her chest. The hiss caught Mando so off guard that he’s silent for several moments trying to process it. Then he notices her stance, how she's turned slightly away from him and hiding her wrist from him, rubbing it gently.

“Did I hurt you?” He asks, suddenly on edge. He didn’t think he was harsh, but maybe…

She shakes her head, and moves again to head back up to the cockpit.

“Wait, please,” Mando asks, moving closer and gently turning her back to face him. She moves willingly, but keeps her eyes on the floor. He places a hand on hers gently, and when he meets no resistance, he pulls it from the grasp of the other one and, continuing to be as gentle as possible, he slides her sleeve up.

A breath catches in Mando’s throat. Her wrist and forearm are littered in inflamed red blotches, resembling a rash.

“What happened?” He asks, immediately regretting the question. How was she supposed to let him know?

She shakes her head, seemingly thinking the same thing.

“Let me put some bacta on it, it should clear up-” But he’s cut off again by a loud huff, and she’s pulling her arm away again and pulling the sleeve back down, “Hey, come on. We need to take care of that before it gets infected or spreads-”

And then she’s moving her hands this way and that and-

“What did you just do?”

She stops her ministrations and looks at him, eyebrows still pinched in frustration and face flushed red.

“Do that again.” He commands, and she tilts her head and resumes in her movements with a huff.

_“Why? It’s not like you can even understand-”_

_“I understand you.”_ He interrupts, signing with his own hands.

The redness drains from her face immediately, her brows unfurling and her eyes blow wide as if she’s in shock.

_“You can understand me?”_ She signs, disbelief etching her features.

Mando signs back, _“Yes.”_

There’s a few seconds where they both stand there silently, just looking at each other. Then out of nowhere The Girl bursts into tears and stumbles into Mando, arms wrapping around him as she continues to sob into his chest. He immediately envelopes her in his arms, holding her tight to his chest. He wonders how long she’s gone without proper communication. It had to be lonely, being able to understand those around you but them not understanding you. Was Mando the first one to even make an effort?

Suddenly there’s a wail from the cockpit, one that Mando knows all too well. 

“Grogu’s upset, let me put him down for a nap and I’ll be right back.” He tells her and quickly goes to calm his son down and places him in the floating cradle, closing the lid to let him sleep. When he comes back down, The Girl is wiping tears away and smiling at him.

“Okay, tell me what’s happening to your arm.” He said patiently.

She takes a breath and sniffles as she raises her hands, _“If I am out of water for too long, I get sick. I used to be able to stay out of the water for weeks at a time, but I have been in that tank so long that I have lost my tolerance. This rash is the beginning of the sickness. I wanted to use some of the water from the tank to heal it.”_

Mando takes a breath. This was not what he was expecting.

“Okay, let me help,” He says as he walks past her, easily moving the lid she had so much trouble with earlier. He then grabs a small towel from a cabinet and soaks it in the tank, ringing out the excess water, “Sit,” He says, motioning for her to sit on a crate.

She does as she’s told and pulls her sleeve up, offering her arm out to him.

He holds her wrist gently, but she still pulls away as if he’s burned her. He looks up.

_“The material of your gloves stings,”_ She signs.

Mando nods, and removes his gloves like he did when he fixed what have now become her sweatpants. He sets them down on the crate next to her, “Okay, let’s try again,” He says as he reaches for her wrist, grabbing it gently with his now bare hands.

He gently dabs the blotches with the towel, stopping when she hisses. He looks up, but notices she hasn’t pulled away.

_“Keep going.”_ She manages to sign with one hand.

He nods, continuing to dab. He suddenly sees why she’s hissing; the areas of skin he’s soaked with water are morphing between her smooth human skin and her rougher, underwater skin.

“Do you change whenever you get wet?” He asks.

He feels more than sees when she shakes her head, his eyes still glued to her morphing skin. But she starts to sign, and he remembers he has to look at her to understand what she’s saying.

_“No, only if the water is from a natural body of water. Oceans, lakes, rivers. Fresh, filtered water doesn’t have any effect. I also have to be completely submerged to change fully.”_

Mando nods in understanding, removing the towel from the spot on her arm that it had been resting.

_“That should be good for now. Thank you.”_

He nods again and stands, ignoring how his pants are damp from the floor still being wet from the incident a few days earlier. He grabs a roll of gauze and gently wraps it around her arm. He moves as if caring for a baby animal, with slow movements and gentle touches. Grabs his gloves, he sits next to her. They sit in silence for a few minutes before she continues to sign.

_“What can I call you? I don’t want to keep referring to you as ‘tin man’ to myself.”_

Mando chuckled. He could tell her his name, it’s not like she could tell anyone… But then again she could. To her family or anyone who knew how to speak her language…

“Mando,” He says, “You can call me Mando,” He sees her nod out of the corner of his eye and he decides he should probably stop referring to her as ‘The Girl’, “What about you?” 

She looks at him, and he looks back. 

_“What do you mean?”_

“Your name, mesh’la.” He answers softly, barely noticing the pet name slip from his lips.

Her eyes brighten and she smiles as she signs back, _“Celestine, but my friends called me Cel.”_

Mando brushes off her past tense usage of ‘called’, assuming he interpreted wrong or she signed it by mistake, or maybe she just hasn't seen them in such a long time.

“Cel? I like that.” He says, and it doesn't go past him how her cheeks flush when he says her name.

_“Thank you.”_

***

After their tiny heart to heart, the two make their way back up to the cockpit to get ready to land on Navarro.

It’s mostly silent, but it’s a comfortable silence. Mando looks at Cel’s reflection in the window, watching as she cuddles a sleeping Grogu. Everytime he sees her with his kid, he feels another brick in the wall around his heart turn to sand.

Something on the dashboard beeps, and he flicks a few switches above him, “Hold onto him tight,” He says over his shoulder, “And buckle in. We’re gonna drop out of hyperspace and get ready to enter the atmosphere.”

When he hears her seatbelt click, he pulls back the hyperdrive lever. The ship jolts, but not too much to be concerning. The stars immediately stop streaking past them and Navarro is right in front of them. There's a small gasp behind him, and he looks back to see Grogu wiping sleep from his eyes and Cel looking at Navarro with wide eyes.

“Have you ever been here before?” He asks.

She shakes her head but seems to stop and think before signing back, _“Maybe, I don’t know where all I’ve been the past few years. I was always kept in the tank. Before that, I didn’t travel.”_

He nods his head. _Right,_ he thinks, _of course she wouldn’t know._

He begins the sequence to enter the atmosphere, then turns to Cel once more, “Hold on, we’re entering the atmosphere.”

After a few moments, the ship began to shake again, this time much more violently. Mando held tightly onto the steering, keeping them as steady as possible. After a few minutes passed and the ship stopped shaking like it was about to fall apart, the Crest finally calmed into a steady rumble as Mando began the landing sequence.

He took a quick glance at the reflection of the two behind him, making sure they were okay before he put all of his focus into landing them in one piece.

Before long they were safely on the sandy ground of Navarro. Mando took Grogu from Cel and placed him in his cradle, pressing a few buttons on his wrist to make the thing follow him. Cel followed them down to the hull, watching as Mando grabbed his beskar spear and a few other weapons.

She taps on his shoulder to grab his attention and then asks, _“Is it dangerous here?”_

He shakes his head, “Not so much anymore, the planet is much more respectable now than it used to be.”

_“Then why so many weapons?”_

He notices her worried expression and suddenly it hits him. She probably doesn’t know what a Mandalorian is, so she wouldn’t know he’s a bounty hunter. That’s probably something she should know if he wants her to trust him.

“I always have weapons on me when I leave the ship. I’m a bounty hunter, and my armor is made of a precious metal, so I tend to get into a few fights here and there.”

The moment he said the words ’bounty hunter’ her eyes widened and the familiar look of fear washed over her. He had to act quickly to save himself.

“Don’t be scared, please,” He says as he takes her hand into his, “I was telling the truth before when I said I want to keep you safe.”

She looks up at him for several moments, before relaxing her shoulders and nodding.

“Good,” He nods back to her and then hands her one of his capes, tying it and lifting the hood up over her head, keeping her hair tucked into it, “Keep this on while outside. Your skin and hair could cause unwanted attention,” She nods in understanding and pulls the cape around herself even more. He looks at her and can’t help the thoughts that invade his mind about how beautiful she is in his cape. He shoves the thought away and opens the ramp. As it’s lowering, he gently grabs her hand and pulls her closer to him. He leans down so his helmet is next to her ear, “Stay close to me,” He says lowly, releasing her hand as the ramp hits the ground.

She nods, staying hidden slightly behind him as they descend onto the planet.


	5. The Sickness Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of water, Cel's health reaches a critical point. Meanwhile, Mando learns important information from Cara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5!! I hope you all like the story so far! I created a fake planet towards the middle of the chapter because it was the easiest thing to do for the plot.
> 
> Again, thank you to @ edgyvege on tumblr for the art, beta reading, and brainstorming with me, and to @ pedro-pascal-love for helping me with Star Wars lore! Follow them!
> 
> I've decided to try and end this story with or around 10 chapters, but will add on with others and make it a whole series!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @ starkdanverss ! Happy reading!

Cara and Karga were walking towards the Razor Crest as Mando and Cel stepped off.

“Mando!” Karga calls, “Didn’t expect you around here anytime soon.”

They shake hands in greeting as Mando answers, “I didn’t either, but I need some repairs, and we need some supplies for my friend here,” He tilts his head towards the girl slightly hidden by his own figure.

Cara’s eyes meet hers and she smiles kindly, “Hi, I’m Cara,” She says, stepping forward to shake Cel’s hand, only to be left with her hand mid-air.

Mando watches the exchange and realizes that Cel is scared. He saved her from captivity only a few days ago. He’s the only one she trusts. 

Cel looks at him as if to confirm that Cara isn’t a danger to her, and he nods. She slowly reaches out and finally shakes Cara’s hand.

“This is Cel,” He says for her, “She can’t speak.”

“Nice to meet you, Cel.” Cara says, subtly eyeing the skin of Cel’s hand that’s shining slightly in the sun.

“If she can’t speak, how do you know her name?” Karga laughs as he steps closer to shake her hand as well. She takes his without prompting this time, but caution is still evident on her face.

“Her native language is through signage, I happen to know the language.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Cel,” Karga says to her, then turns to Mando, “I'll get my best people on your ship, get her running good as new. Why don’t you all come and grab a bite to eat?”

Mando nods, and as his two friends turn to lead the way, he reaches over and places his hand on the small of Cel’s back, silently letting her know that she is safe with him.

***

The cantina is empty when they arrive, and Cel sits at the bar with her hood down as Karga hands her a plate of food. He doesn’t bother handing one to Mando, knowing he won’t eat unless he’s alone. He does, however, give Grogu a snack as well.

They’re exchanging small talk when Cara shows up in the door and silently beckons Mando outside. Karga sees this and nods to Mando, knowing what he's about to ask.

“Hey,” Mando says, leaning towards Cel. She looks up at him, “I’m going to go talk to Cara for a minute,” He points to the woman in the door, “I won’t be far, and Karga here is a good friend of mine. He’ll make sure you’re safe. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”

She bites her lip and looks between Mando and her new acquaintance, before nodding her head.

“Good girl.” He says as he squeezes her thigh and stands to follow Cara.

They walk for a few seconds before Cara speaks.

“Where'd you find her?” She asks, getting straight to the point.

“What do you mean?” Mando responds.

“Her species was wiped out several years ago.”

Mando stops in his tracks, “What?”

Cara stops with him and nods, then continues to walk, “They were called Sirens. A peaceful species, but not afraid to fight if they had to. They only existed on one planet, Mon Cala. Never left. They mostly stayed in the water, but a few were known to partake in activities on land. They were deemed too much of a threat to The Empire, and genocide was committed to their race. Nobody ever saw another Siren after that. But you just walked onto Navarro with the first Siren seen in years. So I ask again, where did you find her?”

That was a lot for Mando to process at once. And that was saying something, he was trained to process a lot of information in high stress situations.

“I found her as a captive on Naboo,”

They were quiet as Mando continued to process this information. There were so many questions swirling around in his head.

“Why were they too dangerous?” He asks first.

Cara sighs before answering, “They have this... Ability. But only the women. It’s called a Siren Song. When sung, it can control the thoughts and actions of any living creature that hears it. I assume that’s why she can’t speak, whoever had her in captivity probably damaged her vocal organs so that she couldn’t fight.”

Again, the pair fell into silence. 

So Cel didn’t have a family to go home to? Did she know this? It would explain why she never asked about going back to her home planet, or even telling him where it is.

Mando felt incredibly guilty for it, but there was a part of him that was happy she wouldn’t have to leave him.

They’ve turned and made their way back to the cantina by now, but Cara stops before they reach the door.

She turns to her friend, “Take care of her, Mando. Sirens create bonds with people they… Trust. Like the bond between you and Grogu. Don’t hold her heart if you don’t plan on protecting it with your life.”

“How do you know all of this?” He asks, not sure he even wants the answer.

“I knew someone. Her name was Elody.” 

The vague reply wasn’t lost on the bounty hunter. Cara had loved a Siren herself, and lost her to the genocide.

They walk back into the cantina to see Karga, Cel, and Grogu playing a three way game of toss-the-ball-that-belongs-on-the-ship’s-dashboard.

When Cel sees him she smiles brightly, and he makes his decision.

***

They stay on Navarro for a few days. In that time, Cel becomes good friends with Karga and Cara. She also learns that Cara knows her native language as well. On one particular night when neither woman could sleep, she learns why and how Cara knows her dead language.

Turns out Cel knew Elody, and they stayed up the entire night telling stories about her and each other. By the time the sun rose, the two women had become incredibly close. And while Cara didn’t say it, Cel had offered her some closure that she didn’t know she needed.

Cel had gotten increasingly sick, but continued to use the dwindling water supply in her tank to soothe the rashes. But the problem was that even if she managed to heal the breakouts on her skin, it didn’t much help her on the inside and it was starting to become obvious, no matter how well she tried to hide it.

She began to have spells of breathing troubles or dizziness but hid her ailments the best she could. She liked it here, and Mando seemed happier than when they were cooped up in the ship.

But today, she couldn’t hide it.

***

Something is off.

That much Mando is sure about.

Cel had been slow in her movements all day, with her responses as well. Half of the time she looked at him, her eyes seemed distant or glazed over.

Just like they are right now.

“Are you okay?” He asks her quietly. They’re sat at a table in the back corner of the cantina, a few other patrons sprinkled about. She hasn’t touched her food, or really moved at all since they’ve sat down.

She doesn’t look up at him, and instead continues to stare at nothing. A minute goes by where he waits for some sort of answer, and then her eyelids begin to droop.

“Cel, hey, what’s-” Before he can finish his question, though, she slips out of her chair and lands on the ground with a thud, “Dank Farrik!” He yells as he tosses her seat to the side and rolls her onto her back. Ripping off a glove, he checks for a pulse. It’s there, but it's thready and erratic.

Suddenly Karga is by his side, “What happened?”

“I don’t know. She just fell over.”

He feels her forehead and she’s  _ too cold.  _ He focuses on her chest, and sees her ribcage shaking as her lungs struggle to pull in air.

“Move!” Mando can hear Cara through the growing crowd in the cantina, but he doesn’t look up, afraid that if he looks away for just a second he’ll lose Cel. Cara finally reaches them and kneels, “What the hell is going on?”

“She just fell over!” Mando snaps, he doesn’t know what the fuck just happened. Why are they asking him?

Cara feels for a pulse, then lifts up Cel’s shirt a bit, revealing the same rash that Mando treated on her arm a few days earlier.

“Dank Farrik!” She curses under her breath, “How long has she been out of water?”

“Six days.” His response is immediate. Six days since he’s met the woman he’s fallen in love with.

“You need to leave, now,” Cara demands, putting her shirt back in place, “She needs to be fully submerged in a natural pool of water immediately.”

Mando pulls Cel into his arms and stands, “What's the closest planet with water?” He asks. He should know this information, but he’s currently stuck on the fact that he might lose the _ first woman he’s ever loved. _

“Barvont is the closest planet with natural bodies of water,” Karga replies as they all exit the cantina and head towards the Razor Crest, “It’s a rainforest planet.”

They reach the ship in record time and Mando pauses as the ramp comes down. He turns to his two friends, “Grogu-”

“Will be safe with us,” Cara interrupts, “We’ll watch him. Just focus on keeping her alive.”

Mando nods and runs up into the ship. He puts Cel over his shoulder so he can climb the ladder into the cockpit. When he gets there he straps her near lifeless form into the passenger seat and then straps himself into his own. He doesn’t waste a second initiating the take off sequence. 

It becomes a blur to him, the time in between take off and reaching Barvont. The planet was almost a day away, so he busied himself with his attempts to keep Cel alive. He submerged her into the rest of the water left in the tank, but it wasn’t much. It hardly covered her legs. But her breathing improved, if only slightly, and her pulse became just a tad stronger. 

Another issue was that the water didn’t have the same healing effects on her spreading rash that it did only a few days ago. It now only seemed to lessen the irritation instead of reversing it altogether.

The ship was on auto pilot since Din was in the hull with Cel nearly the entire time. He never left her side, never even slept, too afraid that the moment he walked away she would stop breathing. And that wasn’t an option.

Too many hours later, the console in the cockpit beeped, alerting the Mandalorian that they were approaching Barvont. He didn’t have a choice at this moment, too afraid that if he took Cel out of the water that she would die.

So he leaves her in the tank and darts up the ladder, jumping into the pilot seat. He drops out of hyperspace as smoothly as possible; which, granted, isn’t very smooth. The entry isn’t very smooth either, since he pushed his ship as fast as it could go. But it doesn’t rumble like it did when he last entered Navarro. 

Small mercies, he guesses.

He successfully lands the Razor Crest without incident, which he will pride himself on later since he isn’t in his right mind and the planet is heavily wooded. He lands near a good sized lake that was fed by a large waterfall. He jumps back down into the hull and opens the ramp before collecting Cel from the tank, wanting to minimize the amount of time she’s out of the water. 

He quickly walks off the ship and towards the blue lake, wading into the unexpectedly warm water. Still holding her, he walks until the water hugs his waist and then kneels down to submerge Cel fully into the water. Mando quickly rips off her tunic and pants, hoping to maximize her skin’s contact with open water. 

He continues to hold onto her, terrified to let go. He watches her through the crystal clear water, waiting for the change to start.

But nothing happens.

His heart shatters.


	6. The Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions run high when Din think's he's lost Cel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The smut starts in THE NEXT CHAPTER!! When I tell you it's filthy, I mean my co-author had to drink some water to continue.
> 
> This story is now 18+.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading this far! We have had so much fun writing this and we can't wait to add more! Thank you to @ edgyvege on tumblr for being my editor, co-author, and artist. And thank you to @ pedro-pascal-love on tumblr for helping me with the Star Wars lore! Follow them!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @ starkdanverss !!
> 
> Happy Reading!

_ _

_ His heart shatters. _

Is he too late? Is this water not the right type? Is he not supposed to hold her? Is he doing something wrong?

Cel remains in her human form for what felt like hours, but was only about a minute.

Then her body suddenly jerks out of his hold. He tries to grab onto her again, but he can’t get a grip on her.

He watches as her body falls and hits the sand at the bottom, kicking it up as she thrashes which fogged up the water to the point where he can hardly see her anymore.

He waits a few minutes with his heart in his throat, and then there’s a tail poking out from the cloudiness and it flicks, moving her away from him.

He watches as she swims away to where the lake floor drops to a depth where you can no longer see the bottom. He stays there a bit longer in case she needs him. But she doesn’t come back up, so he gets out of the water, feeling twice as heavy from his soaked clothes, and sits on one of the large rocks that lines the edge of the lake. He sets her clothes out next to him to dry. She doesn’t resurface for several hours.

Mando is barely holding himself together the entire time, afraid it was too late. But he keeps telling himself that he saw her tail, he saw her swim away. She was conscious. She just needed some time to heal herself.

But how much time?

The sun was setting over Barvont when Mando hears a disturbance in the water. He looks up and sees Cel hanging on the edge of the rock, her tail happily swishing in the water.

At first, Mando is over the moon. She’s okay, and now she’s back and smiling at him.

But then the fear-fueled anger sets in.

“What the  _ hell  _ was that?” He snaps, standing. He stalks closer to her, “Why didn’t you tell me you were sick? Why didn’t you tell me how bad it had gotten?” His chest is heaving, and he doesn‘t notice the way her cheeks flush several shades darker, water welling in her eyes, “Do you understand how worried I was? How worried we  _ all  _ were?” He’s actively yelling now, looking everywhere but her because he  _ knows  _ he’s scaring her but he can’t stop the raw anger he’s feeling at that moment, “You cannot just do something like that! What if the closest planet with water was days away? What if you had died? I can’t fucking lose you!”

It’s quiet after he stops. Neither of them move, and he doesn’t speak.

He hears a sniffle and looks up, seeing tears running down her face, mixing and dropping into the water her face was disappearing into as his volume increased.

_ “I’m sorry,”  _ She says quietly as she comes out of the water to her shoulders, her hands fully rise out of the water as she grabs onto the rock again, _ “I didn't mean to anger you. You just seemed so happy on Navarro and I didn’t want to take you from your friends when you weren’t ready.” _

And, okay, fuck. He was beginning to regret his tone. He sees her begin to sign again.

_ “I understand if you want to leave me behind. I hurt you, and that was wrong.” _

Mando’s heart clenches and he moves closer, kneeling onto the rock beneath him.

“I will never leave you behind,” He says low. He reaches out and holds her chin firmly, “I go wherever you do. I…” He pauses, second guessing his train of thought. But he nearly lost her today, so… “I love you, Celestine.” He whispers to her, thumb wiping away any excess tears on her cheeks. 

He bows his head enough where his helmet touches her forehead, and she holds it with one hand, kissing it softly where his cheek would be.

She pulls back to sign back to him, _ “I love you too, Mando.” _

Now, he’s been questioning his creed since they defeated Moff Gideon. Unsure he believes the things he’s been taught anymore. But he always kept his helmet on. It was too hard to let go of that yet. Too ingrained into him.

But right now, in this moment, he doesn't care.

He pulled off his helmet and tossed it onto the rock, jumping into the water.

Cel closes her eyes, having learned about his creed from Cara.

He swims closer to her and pulled her hands from her eyes, “Please, cyare, look at me.” He pleads, voice low and warm.

She lets him pull her hands away as she carefully opens her eyes.

_ He’s beautiful.  _ She thinks.

He rips off his gloves and tosses them back where his helmet is.

“Can I kiss you?” He asks as he holds her face with his bare hands.

She stares at him, wide eyed, and nods.

He doesn’t wait for anymore encouragement. He immediately clashes their lips, delighting in the way her tail wraps around him.

Her hands land on his shoulders as she kisses him back, moving up into his hair. She grabs a fistful and tugs gently, feeling warm at the way he moans into her mouth. She pulls him closer with her tail, and pushes her body against his.

He answers by moving his hands down her body, feeling her scales and gills as he goes. His featherlight touches explore her body, until they come to rest on her waist, where her tail ends and her torso begins. 

He squeezes and she gasps into his mouth, just like he did before. He takes the opportunity and slides his tongue into her mouth, licking her own tongue. 

She gasps again and moves one hand from his hair and down to his shoulder, gripping his pauldron. She unwraps her trail from his legs for a moment, kicking and pushing them into a group of rocks closeby. She ends up against one that’s peeking out of the water, sitting on a large clad boulder that sat against the one her back was touching. 

Mando moved quickly, sitting up on his knees to hover above her. He placed a hand on her neck, thumb pushing against her jaw to move her head to the side. When she does, he kisses her neck, then her jaw, and moves down to her collar bone. When he finds a smoother patch of skin that doesn’t have any scales, he licks and then sucks a bruise into it, making Cel gasp loudly and thrust her hips into his, her fin making a sudden splash.

He doesn’t know where Sirens like to be touched, they don’t have the same anatomy as human women below the waist. He continues featherlike touches until he finds a place that Cel reacts well to, and plays around in that area until he hungers for more. 

His erection has gotten increasingly more painful, the only stimulation being her tail rubbing into him. 

He pulls his lips from hers, gasping for air. She smiles at him, her purple eyes blown wide with lust. 

“Are you ready to go back to the ship?” He asks, and she nods eagerly. 

He pulls himself back up onto the rock where he originally was and grabs his helmet, gloves, and her clothes he had discarded earlier, meeting her where the water kisses the sand. 

She pulls herself onto the shore and waits for a few seconds for the transition to start. 

When it does start, though, her face contorts into pain and her mouth opens as if a scream were trying to escape. She’s on her belly, holding herself up on her elbows as her body reshapes itself. 

Mando comes to sit near her, feeling more helpless than he did when Grogu had been taken. 

He wants so bad to reach out, but is terrified he’ll hurt her. 

And he’s done enough of that today. 

He watches it though. Wanting to know how to help her if she ever needed it. He watches as her collarbone tilts slightly more downward into a more human shape, as her gills seal themselves shut, as her scales dissolve into her skin, as the webbing between her fingers disappears and her nails shrink. 

He watches as her tail splits into two, fins shrinking and dissolving, scales morphing into soft, human-like skin. 

When it’s over, she’s naked and panting, hardly able to hold herself up anymore. 

It would be erotic if it wasn’t so terrifying. 

Mando quickly scoops her up into his arms and carries her back to the Razor Crest. When they get inside he places her in the bed in the sleeping quarters and grabs some dry clothes. 

She’s quickly regaining strength, able to dress herself and stand afterward. 

_ “We should refill the tank with water,”  _ She signs,  _ “So we don’t have to rush to a planet with water again.” _

Mando nods, but he’s unsure how he’s going to do that by himself. 

“How do we get the water into the tank and back here? It’s going to be heavy and I can’t carry it myself once there’s water.”

_ “I can help, I have my strength back.” _

He raises a brow that she can’t see and nods.

They easily get the tank to the lake and pour the little remaining water out, then fill it back up with the lake water. 

Mando was right, it did get very heavy, but with her regained strength Cel was able to hold just as much of the weight as Mando, if not more. 

After successfully making it back to the ship, Mando places the lid on the tank to keep any water from splashing out. 

He then removes his helmet and holds her chin with his thumb and index finger, kissing her softly. 

“We should get back to Navarro,” He says after a few seconds, his hot breath fanning across her face. 

She has a hand wrapped around his wrist now and she nods. 

They both head back up to the cockpit, taking their seats and getting ready for takeoff. 

After they enter hyperspace, Cel grabs her assigned blanket from the beginning of this whole journey and curls up in the sleeping quarters. She needs sleep after the whole ordeal. 

Mando agrees to sleep as well, but moves towards the ladder to head back to the cockpit. 

He hears sudden shuffling and he moves to look at Cel. 

_ “Lay with me.”  _ Is all she says, and Mando doesn’t really have the willpower to say no. 

He sheds off his armor and climbs into the small bed, wrapping an arm around Cel as she curls into him. 

He feels her drifting off, her breathing becoming more even and her movements calming down. 

“Din,” He says before he even realizes it. 

She turns towards him, the tiredness thick in her eyes. She tilts her head. 

He’s already taken his helmet off, there’s no reason to stop now. 

“My name,” he says lowly, his voice warm like honey, “It’s not Mando. It’s Din Djarin.”

The confession hangs in between them for a moment before Cel smiles and places a hand on his cheek, placing a soft kiss on his nose. 

He smiles and mimics her, placing a long kiss on her lips. 

She breathes happily into his mouth, before pulling away and burrowing her head into his neck. 

They fall asleep together like that. 


	7. The First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Din and Cel finally get intimate.
> 
> **THERE IS A TRIGGER WARNING IN THIS CHAPTER. READ THE NOTES AT THE TOP OF THE CHAPTER!*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's here! The chapter we have been most excited about! I'm so so so proud of this fic so far and I want to thank everyone who has read the story so far <3
> 
> Thank you so so much to @/edgyvege on tumblr for being my co-author, editor, and story artist, and to @/pedro-pascal-love on tumblr for helping me with Star Wars lore.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @/starkdanverss! Happy Reading!
> 
> ***TRIGGER WARNING***
> 
> There is an act of self harm in this chapter. It's very short and doesn't last long, but it is marked in the chapter so you know when to skip ahead. Stay safe!

The sun is setting when the Razor Crest lands back on Navarro. 

Cara walks out of the small town with Grogu in her arms and she waits for the ramp to open, holding her breath. 

She lets out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding when she sees Mando and Cel at the top of the ramp, him giving her a small nod.

“Did he behave for you?” Mando asks when he reaches the two, reaching for his son who is already reaching out for him. 

Cara handed him over with a smile, “Mostly. He’s a mischievous thing, I’ll tell you that.”

Mando chuckles, “Yeah, he’s a troublemaker.”

Cara looks at Cel and laughs, “So is she,” she steps forward and gives her friend a quick hug, then punches her shoulder lightly, “Don’t do that again.”

Cel smiles and nods her head, signing, _ “I know, I’m sorry.” _

_ “Just glad you’re safe.”  _ Cara signs back, then turns to Mando, “I assume the two of you are pretty hungry after that whole ordeal. Come grab some dinner. Karga is eager to know that Cel is okay.”

The couple follows Cara back into town, Grogu babbling happily. 

Like before, Cel eats in the cantina while Mando just sits next to her. Grogu has already had dinner, but successfully coaxes a snack from Karga. 

They don’t talk about what happened, only confirming that Cel is okay and no longer in danger. 

Cara and Cel disappear after the Siren finishes dinner, letting Mando take his meal back to the room he had been given a few days earlier. 

The sun is completely gone now, the planet blanketed in darkness lest the few dim lights leaking from other homesteads. 

Mando lays in his bed with his hands behind his head, trying to get the image of Cel panting underneath him out of his head. She’s painted on the back of his eyelids if he closes them, and she’s burned into his retinas even with them open.

He closes his eyes, she’s on top of him. He closes his eyes, she’s beneath him. He squeezes his eyes tightly, she’s on her knees. He opens his eyes as wide as he can, she’s there just smiling at him with her big purple eyes. 

He rolls over on his stomach, willing the tightness in his pants to  _ go away.  _ He tries thinking of literally anything else. Grogu eating the frog lady’s eggs, being swallowed whole by a Krayt Dragon, even the fact that a fucking droid took off his helmet when he nearly died rescuing his son. But each time his mind somehow wandered back to Cel’s body in the water, moving so skillfully. The way she tugged at his hair... 

He’s craving her. He needs to see her. To take her like the man he is.

He rights himself quickly and decides he has to see her right now. He looks over at Grogu sleeping soundly in his floating cradle. He presses the button on the front to close the pram before quietly leaving his room.

***

There’s a knock on the door before it opens and Mando walks in. 

Cara looks up from the book she was reading, “The point of knocking is waiting to be let in,” Cara smiles as she sits up. 

“Can you watch him for a bit longer?” Mando asks, the silver cradle floating to his side. 

“Are you going somewhere?” She asks, looking between him and the cradle. 

He looks at the cradle as well before turning to look at the door, “No, I just have something I have to do.”

“I mean, sure I can watch him. Just let me know-“ Cara looks up to see Mando already walking out of the door, and she raises a brow. 

***

She can’t sleep. She’s been tossing and turning for hours now, the sheets a complete mess. She misses the ease of sleeping suspended in water with no constraints.

He’s in her head, more than anyone ever had been before. She’s had mates before, but never a human. She’s loved before, but something about this one felt different. She brushes her fingers across her lips thinking of what it felt to have his lips on hers.

Mando-  _ Din,  _ she corrects herself, was gentle. But more than that, he felt possessive. The realization gave her a rush that her other mates had not.

Don’t get her wrong, she wasn’t an object and never wanted to be someone’s property again, but something about the way Din kissed her, the way he  _ touched her _ , felt like nobody was allowed the same. Like she was only his to taste. To smell. 

And it was absolutely  _ thrilling.  _

She had no idea why, why her tummy felt warm when he took control. But the warmth was intoxicating and she felt  _ safe _ .

She felt heat pooling in her core and a wetness between her legs as she shifted her thighs. 

But she’s never felt this way while in her human form. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to do about it. In her Siren form, she knew how to make herself feel good, but she’s never felt the need as a human. 

Until she met Din. 

She thought about how he felt against her, heavy and gentle. Her hands began to move down farther on their own accord. She cups her pelvic mound and gasps. She feels the heat in her core rise and the wetness between her legs grow. 

She squeezes a little harder, biting her lip as a finger presses down in between her clothed folds. 

There’s a sudden knock on her door, and she jerks her hand away from herself, shooting up off her bed. 

She takes a second to calm her breathing before opening the door. 

She cocks her head and signs,  _ “Is everything okay?”  _ Her heart pounding from arousal and adrenaline. She hopes he can’t hear it beating against her ribcage.

Din doesn’t respond. He walks in and shuts the door behind him, locking it. 

Cel tries asking again,  _ “What’s going on-“ _

Din throws his helmet on the ground with a metallic thud and interrupts her by grabbing her face, kissing her like he needs her own breath to live.

She kisses back with just as much need, moving her hands to his hair, tangling her fingers in his soft curls. 

She tugs at his locks, getting exactly what she was looking for. 

That beautiful moan of his. 

He bends down and grabs her thighs, lifting her against him. She wraps her legs around his waist, and he turns, near slamming her into the door as he attacks her neck with his lips and teeth. 

Her head falls back onto the door as she pulls in a deep breath and closes her eyes.

“Is this okay?” He breathes into her shoulder before kissing gently and leaning back to watch for her answer.

Cel takes one hand from his hair to quickly respond, _ “Please don’t stop.” _

Suddenly Din rips her tunic open by the neck, revealing her lace bra. 

Din makes a noise akin to a growl before looking back into Cel’s eyes. 

His eyes are blown wide, his chocolate brown irises are barely visible. 

He pushes her against the door further so she’s supported and his hands move to her chest, fingers toying with the straps of her bra. 

“Where did this come from?” He asks, his voice deep and filled with lust. 

Cel untangles her fingers from his hair and sloppily signs,  _ “Cara took me shopping… Our second day here. Said I didn’t have to wear them if I didn’t want to… But that every woman should have a few of them.” _

Din smirks and moves his hands to cup her breasts.

She grabs his wrists to stop him and signs,  _ “Please don’t rip it.” _

Din smiles and giggles, then grabs her ass again and turns them, walking towards the bed. He lays her down gently, crawling on top of her. Her bra clasps in the front, so he easily unhooks it, and her breasts bounce freely from their constraints. 

Din grabs them, kneading them as he leans down to kiss Cel again. Her skin is hot against his and he has his tongue in her mouth when he pinches her nipples. Her lips break from his as she throws her head back onto the mattress, her breath speeding up into needy panting. 

Din takes the chance to move down, his lips and tongue tracking his movements over the iridescent parts of her skin until his mouth is directly above one of her breasts. He takes a quick look up at Cel’s face, her eyes closed and she’s chewing on her lower lip. 

He closes the distance and sucks one of her nipples into his mouth, rolling his tongue around the sensitive mound, sucking with force as his cheek brushes her other breast. 

This time her hips buck into him and she squeezes his biceps. 

Din pulls away from her with a small, wet  _ pop.  _

He sits up and unhooks all the pieces of his armor one by one, tossing it all onto the floor.

Cel watches from below as each piece of beskar removed reveals a man underneath; one with emotion, care, and softness.

He then pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it across the room, forgotten. 

Cel is mesmerized. She traces his muscles with her fingers, ending where his pants begin, and then she brings her hands up to his collarbone and drags her nails down his torso. 

“Fuck… Fuck, Cel,” He pants, leaning back down to connect their lips again. 

Cel is beginning to lose patience, the throbbing in her centre becoming almost too much to bear. 

She’s heard about sex with humans, she knows  _ how  _ it works, but she’s never actually learned much about it. She barely knows about her own human form. She doesn’t know what to ask for. 

But Din sees the desperate look in her eyes and understands. He hooks his fingers into the waistband of her sweats and slowly pulls them down, dragging her panties along. They too, meet the same fate as his shirt. 

Din looks down at Cel’s naked human body and feels harder than he’s ever been, his erection pushing painfully at his waistband. Her animalistic body is stunning, but now she lay before him like the other women he’s had; exposed and needy for him.

He removes his own pants, discarding them as well. 

He moves a hand to her pussy. He slips his forefinger between her folds, moving it until he finds her clit. His rough hands would be too harsh on her sensitive skin if it wasn’t for how slick she had become. He presses down hard and her hips jerk again. 

Din grabs her hip with the hand he isn’t using and holds her against the bed. 

“Be patient, mesh’la,” He purrs. 

Cel nods, her chest rising and falling with her quick breaths, _ “It feels so good.” _ Her hands sign quickly before falling against her sides; her expression almost pained.

He begins to move his fingers, rubbing slow circles on her clit, watching for her reactions. 

“You’re so wet, baby. Is this all for me?” He asks, leaning down to kiss her belly. 

She isn’t exactly sure what that question means, but she assumes, so she nods her head. 

Din slips a finger into her, pumping slowly while his thumb continues on her clit. Cel gasps loudly and her hips jerk on instinct. 

Din slips a second finger in, feeling his cock twitch in anticipation, “You’re so tight,” he breathes, “so tight and wet for me.”

She still really isn’t sure what that means but when he adds the ‘for me’ she can feel her walls flutter around his fingers. 

“You like when I talk like that?” He asks, adding a third finger, pulling another gasp from her lips. “When I tell you what a good girl you are?”

She nods quickly, dragging her nails up his arms. 

He hisses from the pleasure of her nails leaving marks on his skin. 

Then something changes. 

He stops his ministrations on her pussy and inhales through his nose, and Cel watches his eyes unfocus. 

_ “Are you okay?”  _ She signs and then brings her hands to his curls, but it’s like he doesn’t see her. With a huff he’s suddenly attacking her in wet sloppy kisses, his hand resuming its movements, but they’re uncoordinated. Nothing like before. It’s almost painful.

Cel shifts, easily escaping the hand on her hip. She places two hands on his face and gently slaps his cheek in an attempt to get his attention, but it doesn’t work. 

He’s almost blindly reaching out for her, not reacting to her retreat.

She really wishes she had her voice right now. What can she do? She can’t even get Cara because Din doesn’t have his helmet on and even if he did, he’s completely naked.

She moves to get up, maybe he’s been poisoned? She needs help. She stands from the bed and begins searching for her clothes when he gently grabs her wrist. 

Din is looking at her now with wide, unfocused eyes, “Don’t go,” he pleads from the edge of the bed, and he sounds like his heart’s been broken. It was like a power of his own.

She sighs and moves in between his knees, his feet resting on the ground, and holds onto his neck. He dips his head in between her breasts and inhales, and it’s like a light goes off in her head. 

_ My pheromones.  _

She can seduce anyone she could ever want in human form with her scent. It’s like a Siren Song. No human can resist her. It’s not possible. 

_ Shit,  _ she thinks. She was never told how to make it stop. 

He goes back in immediately for her neck.

But why was it happening now? Not before while they were kissing? She grabs the sides of his face and pulls him away from her skin. 

Din actually  _ whines,  _ and her heartstrings pull. She could never do anything with him while he couldn’t consent. 

_ What is the opposite of pleasure, _ she thinks. When she decides her plan she takes a deep breath and grounds herself. It’s the only thing she can think of. 

**TRIGGER WARNING. SKIP TO NEXT BOLD HEADING.**

She grabs Din’s knife from where she knows he keeps it in his pants. She quickly flicks out the blade with no reaction from him. She stands back in front of him, making sure he’s watching her, and just as he’s taking a step forward and reaching out, she cuts a long line from her shoulder to her elbow. She drops the knife as her knees hit the floor, blood trailing down her arm. 

The response is almost immediate. 

“Cel? Cel! What the fuck?” Din jumps from the bed and grabs a towel from the bathroom, bringing it over and wrapping it around her arm, “What did you do!”

Cel is still panting from the pain, but she moves her hands,  _ “You were under a spell. I had to wake you up,”  _ causing her blood to drop in a pattern at her knees.

“A spell?”

**SAFE TO CONTINUE!**

She explains what happened to him, and his face falls. 

“There had to have been another solution,” he chides as he takes her arm. 

Cel shrugged her shoulders, _ “I couldn’t think of any. Besides, I heal quickly.”  _ She signs as she pulls the towel off. It wasn’t there more than five minutes, and all Din can see is a puckered scar and even as his eyes look, it still seems to fade. 

He stares. That’s why she didn’t have any marks on her. Any mark placed on her would have healed almost immediately. Maybe that is how she lasted so long on Naboo.

“You continue to amaze me,” Din says as he stands, taking the towel back to the bathroom to wet it before bringing it back over and cleaning up the blood, “Is that going to happen every time?” He asks, “Every time we try to… You know…”

Cel shrugs again,  _ “I hope not. I don’t know what causes it,”  _ The pair is quiet before Cel signs again,  _ “We can try though.”  _ She smiles sheepishly, swaying her shoulders,  _ “I…  _ really  _ liked that.” _

The corner of Din’s mouth pulls into a smile.

_ “I haven’t experienced it in this form. I need… practice.” _

Din’s face lights up, but his eyes fall to her arm, “Are you going to be okay?”

Cel nods and smiles, leaning in for a kiss. She brings her hands to his cheeks and gently pushes her thumbs across his mustache and the stubble on his chin.

He watches her happily.

_ “Men of my kind don’t have hair like this.” _ She signs before replacing her hands to the patchy scruff along his jaw.

He brings her close and they kiss softly for a few moments before the fire is back and Din is lifting her off the ground and back to the bed. He crawls back on top of her, but she stops him before he can go any further. 

_ “If you feel like you’re losing control of yourself, you have to tell me,” _

Din nods quickly, going in to kiss her again but she puts a finger to his lips. 

_ “I want to hear you say it,”  _ She signs. 

Din sighs but smiles, grabbing her hand and turning her palm to his cheek, kissing it, “If I feel out of control, I will let you know. I promise.”

After a few moments of searching his eyes for any lies, Cel smiles, inviting him in for the kiss he wanted. 

They resume their activities quickly, his hand finding her pussy once again and pulling out gasp after gasp.

Out of nowhere he feels a warm hand around his cock, and he lets out a guttural moan. He looks up at Cel and sees her smirking. 

He laughs breathily, but loses his composure when she starts stroking him. She leans up and pushes him with her. They lock eyes as they switch places. She’s now straddling his knees. 

_ “You will have to guide me. Remember, I haven’t done this before.”  _ She signs with the one hand that’s not currently holding onto Don’s throbbing cock. 

“You haven’t?” He asks, and she shakes her head. 

And Din wonders why that makes this even more fucking hot. 

He nods and uses a hand to show her how to spread his precum to slick himself. He’s panting and moaning as she slides her warm hand up and down his shaft. He’s about to ask her if she can use her mouth when she does it herself. 

“Fuck!” He hisses and stops himself from bucking his hips so he doesn’t hurt her, but looks down to see her purple doe eyes looking up at him, her pink lips wrapped around him so nicely. 

He almost cums at the sight. 

He suddenly realizes she needs help with this too, and he places a hand on her head and guides her. 

“Good girl,” he says, “Use your tongue.”

She’s swirling her tongue around him, hollowing out her cheeks as she takes him in even more, doing all she can to please him. Suddenly she’s pressing on the vein on the bottom of his cock and he hisses, putting his hands on her shoulder. 

“Stop!” 

His cock comes out of her mouth with a wet  _ ‘pop’  _ and for a moment, with her swollen lips, she looks like she’s scared she’s done something wrong and he’s quick to console her. 

“You did beautifully, cyare. But I don’t want to cum yet,” 

She thinks,  _ doesn’t want to- what? _

He pulls her up to him so he can kiss her, and then rolls back on top of her, “Can I taste you?”

Cel’s eyes are closed but she nods, and Din kisses his way down until his face is next to her pussy. 

He kisses her inner thigh before licking a thick stripe between her folds. 

She shudders violently, one hand gripping the sheets for purchase and the other grasping tightly at her breast. 

He smiles as he licks another stripe and then spreads her farther as he sucks lightly on her clit. She bucks into him, and he has to hold her hips to keep his rhythm. 

“You taste so good, mesh’la. So sweet,” his chin and the tip of his nose shine from her wetness. He tightly shuts his eyes, quickly shaking off the blackness creeping into his vision as it had before and he continues.

He then inserts two fingers into her pussy as he sucks again, and he feels her walls clench around them. He wants to feel that with his tongue, so he removes his fingers and inserts his tongue. He hears her panting and with each movement of his tongue she jerks under his hold. 

He can feel her growing closer to release so he pulls away, wiping his mouth on his arm. 

She pulls him into a needy kiss, pushing her hips into his. 

He agrees with her request and positions himself over her. 

“Tell me if I hurt you,” he says. Din isn’t a man who relies on his physical features for pride, but he is big and she’s tight, not to mention a virgin; at least in her human form. 

She copies his reply from earlier, nodding her head with her eyes closed. Din grips her chin with his thumb and forefinger, making her look up at him. 

“I want to see it.” He demands. 

_ “I will tell you if you hurt me.”  _ She signs sloppily, her chest heaving with heavy breaths. 

He does the same as her, searching her eyes for any signs of deceit. But he sees none, so he nods. 

With his hands under her knees he pushes himself in just a little, reveling in the way she feels around him with a soft sigh.

She gasps sharply, eyes closing. Din stops moving, but she’s nodding after a few moments. He pushes further, using every ounce of willpower in his body to go slowly. But she doesn’t make any more signs of discomfort. 

He becomes fully sheathed inside of her as he stops again. She’s panting, desperately moving her hands, telling him that he needs to  _ move, do something, please.  _ He doesn’t argue. 

Din is slow at first, rocking his hips with hers. But he feels his restraint slipping, and his movements become faster. 

_ “Harder.”  _ She signs, and Din complies greedily. 

He’s fucking her hard now, fucking her into the bed as he watches her tits bounce with every thrust. The sound of it echoing slightly off the walls.

She’s clawing his back, her eyes closed and her mouth open like she’s screaming. 

He wishes to himself in that moment that she could speak. He wants to hear her moan, hear her scream his name every time he thrusts his cock into her tight pussy. 

He grabs her throat, squeezing. He immediately realizes that might make her uncomfortable with the situation he took her from, but before he has a chance to pull his hand away he feels her tighten around him. 

“Be’gar ner,” he growls, and reaches down to rub her clit, “Ibac’ner.”

_ You are mine. This is mine.  _

He suddenly spits on her clit as his thumb continues in quick circles.

Cel’s entire body seizes, her back arching and her fingers tightening in Din’s hair, pulling harshly. 

She forcefully cums around him, her clenching walls pushing him to his climax as well. He quickly pulls out, replacing his cock with his fingers to help her ride out her wave of ecstasy as he pumps himself onto her belly. 

He collapses next to her, both of them panting as they calm down. 

When he’s caught his breath, Din moves to grab the towel that he used to clean her blood. He gently cleans his seed off of her.

“Why don’t we take a shower?” He asks, standing and offering a hand to Cel. 

She smiles and nods, taking his hand and her knees wobble while following him to the shower. 


	8. The Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their intimate night continues, Cara gives Mando information that will be useful in the future, and they head off for new bounties when a mysterious threat wreaks havoc on Din’s mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost at the end of this book!! Thank you to those of you who have followed this far. I'm really proud of this story and we are already working on book 2! 
> 
> Thank you to @/edgyvege on tumblr for co-authoring, illustrating, and editing the story, and to @/pedro-pascal-love on tumblr for helping me with Star Wars lore!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @/starkdanverss !
> 
> Happy Reading!

They end up fucking in the shower too. 

To his pleasant surprise, she likes it when he’s rough with her. Not too rough, but he’s gathered that she likes taking his cock hard as well as likes it when he gently chokes her.

That’s how they’re positioned now. One hand on her throat and the other gripping her ass as he fucks her into the wall. 

“So pretty,” he tells her as he spanks her, delighting in the way her walls flutter around him at the impact, “So fucking pretty, taking my cock like a good girl.”

She slaps the wall with one hand, frustration growing in her because all she wants is to scream his name from the pleasure of it all. 

She had no idea sex with humans felt like this. If she did, maybe she would have tried it before. But she decides that, no, she’s glad she’s only shared herself with Din. 

She’s glad her body can adjust to him quickly, because he’s a lot bigger than she anticipated. The feeling of him fully inside her that first time was unlike anything she’s ever felt. Her vision had completely whited out at first and she had forgotten how to breathe altogether. 

But then he was moving and she wanted, no,  _ needed,  _ more. 

Din played around every so often, trying things with her to see what she liked. 

And she  _ really  _ likes when he claims her as his. 

As requested, every time Din speaks in Mando’a, he repeats himself in Basic so she can understand him properly. 

The first time she heard him growl the words “this pussy belongs to me” she came on the spot. 

They’re working on climax number five now. She didn’t even know it was possible to have more than one. She’s pretty sure he’s only came twice, but he seems to enjoy being on the edge. 

She grips the handle on the wall harder and it cracks the tile beneath it. 

“Fuck,” Din whispers, “Are you strong too?” She nods, but he grabs her hair and tugs, “I want to see you say it.”

_ “I am very strong, Din.” _

Din thrusts extra hard into her before pulling out and pumping himself onto her legs. 

Cel’s head hits the wall in frustration. She needs him to finish her off. 

“Don’t worry, mesh’la. I’m not finished with you yet.” 

He turns her so she’s looking at him and places her hands on the wall above her. 

“Don’t move your hands,” he warns, and Cel nods. 

He kisses her passionately, moving down her jaw and torso, leaving bruises that’ll be gone in only a few short minutes. He bites a little harsher on one of her nipples, the sensation immediately going to her clit and making her gasp loudly, thrusting her hips. 

He continues his attack on her skin, kneeling down until he’s on his knees. He pushes one of her legs over his shoulder and holds her in place with just enough room for his face to nestle gently against her pussy lips, her thighs at his cheeks.. 

He immediately sucks her swollen clit into his mouth, tongue swirling around it. He anticipates her movements and grabs her hips so she can’t move against him. 

He presses his tongue flat between her folds, licking up until he's completely left them. 

She’s shaking under him, and it excites him. 

He shifts under her, bringing her leg just a little higher so his tongue has better access and with no warning, he thrusts his tongue up into her dripping cunt. 

She’s immediately pulsing around him, and he flicks his tongue deeper into her, coaxing another orgasm out of her. 

It doesn’t take long until she’s seized up against the wall again, filling his mouth with her juices. He rides her out with his tongue and when she’s finished, he laps it up like it’s water and he’s gone days without it. 

He shifts to look at her and waits until she’s come back to herself. When she does, he gently lets her leg off of his shoulder and she sinks to her knees coming face to face with him. 

_ “Let me pleasure you,”  _ She says. 

Din smiles and tucks her hair behind her ears, “You already have, cyare.”

She smiles and kisses him, tasting herself before pulling away. 

_ “With my mouth,”  _

Din feels his cock twitch at the thought, but he’s spent her enough and he can see it in her eyes that she’s tired. 

“You’ll have another chance. You need to sleep. We have to leave in the morning.”

Cel pouts but nods in agreement. 

They actually wash each other off this time, hands as gentle as silk. 

When they’re dry, they cuddle under the covers and fall asleep together. 

***

The next morning, Din and Cel get dressed together but run into a slight issue when they remember that Cel’s shirt is ripped in half. She had placed most of her clothes that Cara had helped her buy in the ship already so they’d be ready to leave in the morning. Luckily she still had Din’s cape and had to wear it to go outside anyways. She pulls the heavy cloth over her shoulders and holds it closed in the front over her torn shirt and looks to Din with a shy smile.

They meet Cara and Karga early as the sun was still rising, inside the cantina. Grogu still sleeping in Cara’s arms. 

“Morning.” Cara says, showing a bit of her annoyance in her stern expression as she is already starting to scoot Grogu’s pram toward his father.

“Thank you, Cara.” Mando nods and presses the button on his forearm that causes the pram to follow him; it slowly glides to his side.

“Didn’t think I’d have an all night gig.” She sighs before taking a big swig of whatever had made it into her mug this morning.

“Thank you, Auntie Cara.” Mando replies in a small voice as if he is talking for Grogu which gets a silent huff of a laugh from Cel who was now in view of their friends at the table.

“Have a seat, grab a bite.” She extends her arm over the small array of fruits and breads on the table.

Mando turns to Cel who answers his gaze with a smile.

She takes a seat next to Cara as Mando sits across from her to wait. “ _ Thank you for having us again, Cara. _ ” Cel signs before reaching for a muted green piece of bread.

Cara and Cel lock eyes, and Cara raises a brow at the Siren as she takes a bite of the ration. 

“Some residents mentioned low water pressure this morning,” she narrows her eyes at Cel, “So I’ve got my days work cut out for me.”

As she chews it takes Cel a moment to figure out why Cara is staring so hard. She looks like she  _ knows  _ what happened last night before she remembers that her people’s eyes darken significantly, for  _ hours _ , after they’ve mated with someone. 

_ Well shit.  _

Cel can feel her cheeks blush a deep red so she bows her head to try and hide it. She continues to take small bites of her food as she purposefully looks around; anywhere but Cara.

They say their goodbyes, promising to be back soon. 

Cel makes her way up the ramp with Grogu in tow, and Mando heads to follow her when Cara stops him. 

“How much of that room needs fixed?” She sighs.

Mando stops in his tracks, “Pardon?”

Cara rolls her eyes and slips him a card, “You weren’t very subtle when you dropped off your child with me in the middle of the night and didn’t come back. Plus, her eyes are like, ten shades darker than they were yesterday.”

Mando balks, not that she can see, “ _That’s a_ _thing??”_

“You didn’t see it?” She chuckles.

He turns away and- come to think of it, her eyes did seem a much darker shade of purple this morning. 

“Oh,” is all Mando can really say. Trying to move on from the subject he looks at the card that was now in his gloved hands. “The shower,” He looks back up at her, “needs repairs.”

“Well that explains the water pressure.”

Mando is thankful his helmet is hiding his embarrassment.

“Sirens are compatible with humans in more ways than physical. They’re only able to conceive twice a year, spring and fall on Mon Cala. But I don’t know what that translates to now, especially since you’re on a ship most of the time. This is the name and location of a doctor that knows about her race. I suggest you two visit her since I believe Cel is of child bearing age. You already have a foundling. You don’t want to add another child to the mix before you’re ready.” Her smile is warm.

Mando thanks his friend before getting on the ship, climbing into the cockpit where Cel and Grogu are already sat and buckled in. He quietly sits in his seat and begins the takeoff procedure. 

In between flicking switches he glances at Cel over his shoulder, not enough for her to notice, but enough for him to catch a glance before smiling to himself.

Cel taps on his shoulder. “ _ Sorry about Cara _ .”

“What do you mean?”

“ _ She noticed my eyes… _ ” she looks away a moment, _ “I forgot this happens to my people when we… mate.” _ She gestures to her eyes.

Din leans forward from his seat and strokes her cheek with his gloved hand. “No apologies needed, mesh’la.”

She smiles and leans into his hand before he spins around to finish the take off sequence.

Once they’re in hyperspace, Din looks back to see Cel snuggled with Grogu. She’s sleeping with his cape wrapped around her, probably still tired from their activities only hours ago. 

Grogu is awake and looking at him with wide eyes. 

“Come here, kid,” he says, picking his son up and setting him on his lap. He hands Grogu his favorite ball to chew on while he thinks. 

Cara was right. He really didn’t want to get Cel pregnant without being ready. Grogu was already a challenge to have while bounty hunting. And while having Cel around to watch him will help, he doesn’t want to add a siren/human baby into the mix. Especially if they would have sensitive skin to look after too.

He stops his train of thought there. 

Did he even want a child? He has Grogu, and Grogu ages slower than humans. He figures Grogu will be a young kid at most by the time he dies of old age. 

If he makes it that far. 

Grogu wasn’t too much work. But a human baby is a lot of work. And he doesn’t even know what would happen when throwing in Siren genetics. 

As he was beginning to get a migraine, he places Grogu in his cradle while he grabs a med kit and takes two pain killers. He made sure the coordinates for Maldo Kreis were correct before deciding to take a nap of his own. 

***

Cel wakes up to see Din asleep with his son in his arms in the pilot’s seat. She makes her way down and out of the cockpit toward the fresher just as the ship seems to hurl itself sideways.

_ Had Grogu gotten a hold of the yoke again _ ?

The ship lurches again, the familiar buzz of hyperspace filling the air again after only pausing for a moment. As far as she knows, Grogu can’t navigate hyperspace.

As soon as Cel gets to her feet she sprints for the ladder to the cockpit to make sure Din and Grogu weren’t hurt.

As the back of the pilot’s chair comes into view Cel can see Grogu’s pram safely closed and Din sitting, staring out of the glass to the glimmering white and blue of hyperspace.

She steps forward and presses her hand to the side of the chair in an attempt to spin him around, but his grip was solid on the ship. Stepping to the side she finally notices a new flashing light on the center console and a faint sound coming from the speakers on either side. 

She gasps when she realizes what prompted the quick movement of the Razor Crest; a siren’s song.


	9. The Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious Siren Song forces Din and Cel to land on a strange planet. The duo investigate who and where it's coming from. Karga gives Din an important bounty that paves the way to their next adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost there!! I'm so excited! Chapter 10 will be the end of Book 1, and then we will begin posting Book 2! We already have several chapters written for it!
> 
> Endless love and thanks to @/edgyvege on tumblr for co-authoring and illustrating, and to @/pedro-pascal-love on tumblr for helping me with Star Wars lore! Go give them a follow!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @/starkdanverss ! 
> 
> Happy Reading!

She hadn’t noticed at first over the buzz of hyperspace and the other normal sounds of the ship, but now that she’s heard it, it could not be mistaken for anything else in the galaxy.

She glances toward Grogu again, still tucked away, and she decides to keep the pram closed for his safety.

“ _Come on, Tin Man!_ ” She signs at him, but receives no reaction. She throws her hands up, exacerbated.

He’s not moving and the siren’s song continues.

It was beautifully melodic, similar to her own before it was taken from her. Cel is almost envious that Din could be taken so easily by a song that was not her own.

“ _Snap out of it!_ ” She shakes his shoulders before he reaches for a couple buttons to his left.

Where were they going? Had Din known where to go through the song alone? And who was luring them there? 

With another click of button and push of a lever, the stars in the sky streaked to a stop and a planet of beige and rust snapped into view.

A siren, in the desert?

Din navigates easily toward the sun-facing side of the planet and in minutes he lands in a clearing of sand and brush between two rocky hillsides.

_Where are we?_ Cel thinks to herself.

The song on the comm continues as Din slowly stands and starts for the ladder to the hull. Cel manages to click the button on Din’s arm that causes the pram to follow, but once they’re on the lower deck Cel places Grogu into the sleeping quarters as Din lowers the ramp to the dusty ground.

Cel is hesitant to follow, her skin already feeling the scorn of the planet’s wind. As quickly as she can she wraps herself in the Din’s spare cape, the one she wore on Navarro, and slaps the same button to close the ship before running and jumping from the ramp as it began to lift from the ground, up, until it was closed.

Cel made sure it was sealed before turning back to Din who was already far enough into the dust to be less visible in front of her.

She fought against the wind to catch up with him, and as she does she realizes they’ve been gone from the ship and away from the siren’s song for maybe ten minutes. Could she get through to him now?

She scurried in front of him and while planting her feet into the sand, she braced for impact as Din got closer. When he was within reaching distance, she threw her hand out, palm colliding with the cold beskar armor.

Din finally stops.

Her eyes were tearing as she looked up to him. She fought to keep her eyes open to see his next move through the sand blowing in her face.

“Cel…” He grunts.

“ _Din! We have to get back!_ ” Her movements are frantic and before he can reply a red blaster bolt sends a loud ping off of his helmet.

“Get behind me!” He orders as he readies his own blaster, his helmet searching for the source of the threat.

Cel’s hand grips tightly onto his arm as she tries to hide her smaller figure behind him as best as possible.

Another red bolt, but this time it hits the sand a few feet in front of them.

“Show yourself!” Mando demands and suddenly two, five, then seven figures appear through the dust.

He is able to easily shoot two of them before another blast kicks up sand beside him. He’s backing up, an arm behind him and wrapped around Cel as his other is outstretched toward the attackers.

“Lower weapon!” A shrill voice calls out, almost unbearably loud.

“Who are you?” Mando yells, his blaster still aimed, “How did you bring me here?”

The figures near closer and Mando realizes they are small, even smaller than Cel.

“Your blaster… please…” The voice is shaking.

Mando lowers his arm, but does not sheath his weapon.

One of the others shuffles forward and Mando can now see a humanoid figure. They’re wrapped in cloth the color of the sand with large circular goggles. Their gloved hands slowly lift a small box and Mando fingers the trigger, ready at a moment’s notice.

They click a button on the side of the small black box and suddenly the siren’s song is playing again, but only very briefly. Mando feels the pull of the song, a quiet buzz filling his head. But the song is gone just as quickly as it came, and he comes back to himself.

“How do you have that recording?” He takes two large steps forward, leaving Cel where she stood.

“P-please!” The figured hiccups, “Travelers don’t usually survive landing.” They gesture toward the Crest, lost in the dust.

“I won’t ask again. How do you have this?” Mando takes the box from their small hand and looks it over; a simple cassette player.

“Was traded. Very expensive.” Another of the group calls out, their voice slightly lower.

Cel steps forward to examine the box; it is unfamiliar.

Mando turns back toward the sand people. “This is not okay. You cannot use this-”

“Please!” They squeal again. “Supplies are needed. The only way is the song!”

Mando sighs. They were luring people to crash so they could scavenge the wreckage; a meak existence, but he was sympathetic. He hands Cel the cassette player and steps once more toward the group.

“This is a very dangerous song. No being is unable to resist it. It was used by-” He glances over his shoulder to Cel still examining the machine. “It isn’t yours. You must find another way.”

The group groans and two begin to waddle away.

Mando finally holsters his blaster. “I’ll leave in peace, but the machine is mine.”

The few left sigh and turn to follow their kind.

“Well, that could have gone a lot worse.” Mando almost chuckles to himself as he begins to walk back toward Cel, “That song was really something-” He stops when he notices her softly sobbing while holding the cassette player to her cheek; the gears turning and the song playing very quietly into her ear.

“We need to get back.” He gestures toward where he believes the Crest is and wraps his arm around her shoulder as she continues to silently cry.

Just as long as their walk had taken them to the group, the pair made it back to the Razor crest in the same amount of time.

Din lowers the ramp and closes it again quickly after guiding Cel inside.

Once inside, Cel falls to the ground with the player held tightly in her hands as tears continue to fall down her cheeks.

Her inaudible crying caused Din’s heart to crack in half, “Do… Do you know who that is?”

Cel wipes her eyes before shaking her head.

He kneels at her side and soon Grogu’s pram is closeby as well.

“Cara told me what happened… to your people…”

Cel’s eyes glistened as she looked intently to Din. She set down the cassette player and signed, _“I do not recognize the voice, no. But this is-”_ She chokes up and her hands twitch, _“This is the last siren song. I do not have my own so this, this is the last. Forever.”_ She drops her face into her hands and Din wraps his arms around her, letting her silently cry as he slowly removes his helmet.

After a few minutes her breathing evened. Din stands and opens Grogu’s pram. His eyes blink open as he takes his son in his arms and back to Cel.

She immediately smiles when Grogu reaches out for her.

“I’m going to get us off this planet and-”

_“Thank you.”_ Cel interrupts. _“This is something very special. Thank you for taking it from them.”_

Din’s smiles and kisses her forehead.

Once Cel has fully calmed down, she and Din stand and head back to the cockpit with Grogu still in his pseudo-mother’s arms. Once they’re settled and Cel is buckled in with Grogu settled in her lap, Din begins the takeoff sequence.

They reach hyperspace without issue and sit in silence, both of them mulling over the events that just took place.

“Cel-” Din says, but is interrupted when the holoscreen lights up and Karga is projected onto the dash.

Din jumps, not expecting the interruption and thankful he had put his helmet back on earlier.

“Mando! I have a job for you,”

“You just gave me a couple of jobs.”

Karga nods, “Yes, but those can wait. This one is a prominent client who is willing to pay a large sum of credits for the return of this bounty.”

“We both know how well that went last time, Karga.” Din grumbled, speaking about the events with his son.

“Yes, yes, I understand your hesitation. But this client is an old friend of mine, he can be trusted.”

There’s silence for a few moments before Mando answers, “Are you sure? I have,” he glances at Cel and Grogu in her lap, ”more to lose now-”

“I’m not going to put the girl or the kid in danger. I know better than to cross you now,” Karga says with a chuckle, “It should be an easy bounty; a human, his name is Prato Nam. But he’s hiding on Coruscant. It’s a heavily populated planet where the law is known to turn a blind eye for the right price. I would suggest leaving Cel and Grogu on the ship for this one, because you will already create a scene by dragging a bounty out of whichever city he may be in.”

“Thought you said they wouldn’t be in danger?”

“If they stay on the ship, they shouldn’t be. Out of the line of fire.”

Mando nods, thinking it over, “What about a tracking fob?”

“There’s a contact at a ship repair station. Ask for Bramo. Code one-three-four-nine-zero-six-two. He’ll give you the fob.”

“Okay. I’ll set the coordinates, I’ll be in touch in a few days.”

“Good luck to you, Mando.” Karga salutes, and then the screen cuts out.

“Looks like we’re headed to Coruscant,” Din says, turning to Cel and squeezing her knee.

She smiles back at him but can’t stop the nagging feeling in the back of her head that she’s heard of this planet before.


	10. The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cel gets into trouble while shopping for supplies, causing tension between her and Din. A high pressure situation causes more of Cel's history to come to light, and a seedy character from her past shows up.

It takes about a week and a half for them to reach Coruscant. Cel even needs to use her tank closer to the end of the journey as her skin had begun to sore and scab over like it had when she first met Cara and Karga on Nevarro.

Din decides not to go after the bounty immediately. Both Cel and Grogu need to get some fresh air and to walk a bit and they also need to get some more supplies.

Din is still adjusting to having a third mouth to feed, but he isn’t complaining.

They land at the station Karga told him about but he decides not to mention anything to the contact yet. Best to keep a low profile as long as possible.

The three of them head into the marketplace, Cel wearing the cloak that has now become hers and Grogu strapped to her chest, Mando walking slightly behind her to make sure she’s safe from all angles.

Cel is having a field day. She shopped with Cara at the small market on Navarro, but this place was  _ huge.  _ Everywhere she looked there were clothes, accessories, bags, trinkets, and food. If she wasn’t so excited by everything she might notice the eyes following her and her Mandalorian. Mando gave her some credits, telling her to grab a few things for herself as well as a toy and extra clothes for Grogu while he stayed closeby and bought food.

Cel was finishing up a purchase when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned, expecting Mando.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing out here by yourself?” 

She was faced with a much taller man standing behind her. He was clean and dressed well, but something about him made him feel sleezy; maybe the way he was hunched over toward her, boxing her into the space. She tries her best to keep herself hidden by the cloak, keeping it closed around Grogu to keep him safe.

She looks over where she last saw Mando, but he isn’t there.

“Did your company leave you?” He sneers.

She pulls back from him.

He steps forward and waves of cologne invade her nostrils, “If you were with me, I’d never let you leave my sight.” The man says, licking his lips.

Something inside Cel’s belly was screaming at her to  _ run.  _ She forces a kind smile at him and quickly sidesteps him. She’s clutching her purchases in one hand and Grogu with the other, the front of the cloak tightly held in her fist.

She walks away towards the direction they came from, trying to discreetly look for Mando, but she doesn’t see him anywhere.

She can feel the man following her several paces back and begins to sort through her options.

She’s at a peak physical point right now, having recently switched to and from her Siren form. She may be able to fight him off, but he’s a lot bigger than her and she doesn’t want Grogu in the middle of a fistfight. She could go back to the ship, but she doesn’t want the man knowing where she’ll be for the next who-knows-how-many-days.

She sees an opportunity when a large group of civilians walk her way. She easily slips into the crowd, ducking in between them and slips into a brick and mortar shop on the other side. She looks around and thanks the gods for her luck.

It’s a weapons shop.

She walks to the front, hoping she isn’t attracting any attention.

“What can I do for ya, miss?” A man asks as she approaches. He is older, his face covered with white wisps of hair and almost covered his smile.

Oh, how she wishes she could speak. She’s sure this stranger isn’t going to know her mother language, so she makes a gesture. She makes one hand into a fist as if she’s holding a knife and her other palm flat as she pretends to stab into it.

He raises a brow and looks her up and down and something akin to understanding washes over his face.

“You’ve come to the right place, dear.” He says and shows her to an area of the small shop that had all sorts of knives and daggers.

She chose a smaller one, one with a hilt the size of her palm and a blade twice the length of her index finger. It was made of titanium. The hilt was a reflective lavender color with Aura Blossoms etched into it. The blade itself seemed to be colored, changing shades as the light hit it in different ways light her skin does in direct sunlight.

The store owner offered it to her for a very low price, a price she was sure was much lower than it was supposed to be, but he could sense the urgency in Cel’s expression.

With a kind smile she left the store and tried to make her way back to where she was originally; looking for Mando.

As she looked across the street, someone grabbed her elbow and pulled her into a back alley with their large hand muffling a scream that could never come, no matter how hard she tried.

She’s shoved into a wall, her cloak falling open to reveal a sleeping Grogu strapped against her breasts.

“Well, well. What do we have here?” It’s the same man from earlier and he pets the kid’s ears.

Anger flooded her veins at the sight of this repulsive excuse of a person touching her baby. She quickly raises her knee, kicking him in his crotch. He stumbles back with a grunt, clutching at himself.

Cel takes the opportunity to try and run off, but he grabs her by the hair through her hood and pulls her back into his arms.

“That was a bad move, you stupid fucking bitch.” He says, bringing a knife to her throat.

She has her own dagger tucked into her boot, but she can’t reach for it. If she leaned even an inch lower to her boot she would feel the burn of the blade at her neck, just next to the scar that took her voice. The only scar that’s never fully healed.

_ Where is Din?  _ She thinks desperately.

“You’re going to come with me quietly... Or I kill the baby. Got it?”

Cel nods carefully, feeling the blade scrape just barely against her skin and then there’s a hot feeling dripping down her neck.

The man begins to pull her back farther into the alley when the knife against her suddenly clatters to the ground, the grip on her hair releasing.

She grabs for her dagger in an instant, turning towards her attacker ready to slit his throat, but he’s on the ground dead with Mando standing above him.

Mando quickly raises his hands, seeing Cel’s eyes filled with fire as the unfamiliar blade shakes in her hand.

Her eyes are no longer the soft purple that he gets lost in. They’re a bright purple, her pupils turned into slits, like that of a cat’s.

“It’s just me! Celestine, it’s me!” He says in slight panic, watching as the slits in her eyes slowly widen and return to normal and her hand falls back to her side.

She sheathes it back into her boot and then signs angrily at him,  _ “Where were you!” _ She pushes his chest causing him to step back.

Din tries to step forward as he sees the fresh blood still trickling down her skin. “I’m so sorry, Mesh’la. I only meant to be gone for a moment, and then I couldn’t find you-”

_ “Take me back to the ship, please.”  _ She signs, her eyes falling to her feet.

Mando feels his heart clench and he nods, grabbing the bags that were dropped in the struggle and leading her back to the ship in silence.

***

Cel is sitting in the pilot’s seat as she watches Grogu playing with his new toy she got for him in the market. It’s a ball slightly bigger than the one that he likes to steal from the dash, made of rubber with a squeaker inside; he giggles every time it makes a noise.

Din left to track down the bounty shortly after bringing Cel and Grogu back to the ship. He tried apologizing again, but she wouldn’t look at him.

It’s been two days now, and she’s regretting the decision not to kiss him goodbye or even look him in the eyes when he left.

She hopes he’s okay.

The comm link on the ship bursts to life and Din’s voice comes through in haste.

“Open the ramp and start the ship!”

She doesn’t have a way of affirming that she heard him so instead she jumps into action, grabbing Grogu, and placing him in his pram before closing him inside.

She jumps down into the hull, foregoing the ladder, and slams the button to open the ramp.

She goes back up to the cockpit to begin starting the ship when there’s a sudden commotion outside. She peers out the window and sees Din running towards the ship with someone flung over his shoulders and several angry looking men and creatures chasing him.

She gets the engines going and begins the takeoff sequence, buckling herself into the pilot’s seat for the first time.

She hears yelling and shots being fired as Din noisily runs up the ramp into the ship. As soon as she hears the ramp fully close she presses the last few buttons and pushes forward on the throttle, forcing them into the air.

Cel is fully focused on flying the Razer Crest off of Coruscant, trying to stay as steady as possible so Din can get his bounty into the carbonite pod.

When they get into space she flicks a switch and pushes on the throttle for the hyperdrive, sending them into hyperspace and causing the blue and white colors to swirl on the other side of the glass.

After a few minutes Din comes up into the cockpit and sits behind her in her usual spot, “How did you know how to fly the ship?” He’s panting.

She flips them into autopilot and turns around, unbuckling herself, still not meeting his gaze. She wraps her arms around herself for a moment before signing an explanation.

_ “Back on Mon Cala I used to work in a shipyard. It’s how I knew how to fix the hyperdrive,”  _ She signs, then tucks a strand of hair behind her ear,  _ “I liked to stay out of water as much as possible. I was considered a reject to most of my kind. While I had my own song, it didn’t work properly. It’s very rare for that to happen and those who have broken songs are.. considered broken themselves.” _

Din’s breath is caught in his throat. How could anyone reject someone as perfect as her?

Cel continues,  _ “I only had a few friends in the water, so I made myself useful to those on land. I learned how to fix the electrical aspects of ships. I was really good at it, too. That’s actually why I lived when…”  _ Her hands falter, and she can’t bring herself to finish the sentence,  _ “I was on land when it happened. I went back into the water when I saw it happening though. That’s when I was taken.” _

They’re both quiet for a while. Eventually Din kneels in front of her, discarding his helmet. He takes her hands in his own and looks into her eyes.

Cel finally looks at him for the first time since she held her dagger to him.

“I’m so sorry for what’s happened to you, cyare. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you down there. It’s been eating at me ever since.” His voice falters and he clears his throat. “But I promise I won’t let you leave my sight again unless it’s what you want,” He lifts one of her hands and places a gentle kiss on her knuckles, “I love you more than life itself. I could not live with myself if something happened to you,” He kisses her other hand, “Please forgive me, mesh’la.”

Cel pulls her hands away from his and places them on either side of his face, pulling him into a gentle kiss.

***

That night while Cel gets up from their shared bunk to use the fresher, she passes the carbonite pods hanging in the back part of the hull on her way back and becomes curious. She turns on a small lantern, making sure not to wake Din or Grogu.

She looks back into the face of the bounty, and her blood turns to ice. 

Without warning the lantern smashes to the ground, abruptly waking both Din and Grogu. Din shushes the kid back to sleep before rushing over to Cel, who was standing so still it was as if she had been frozen in her own carbonite pod.

“What’s wrong, cyar’ika?” He says quietly, taking one of her hands.

But she just stands there, her eyes glued to the bounty in front of them.

“Cel?” He tries again, grabbing her shoulders and stepping in between her and the offending man.

She looks into his eyes, her own blown wide in shock and fear.

“Celestine?” He shakes her slightly, his voice a little harsher this time to try and break through whatever trance she’s under.

It works and his heart drops as she signs back.

_ “I know him.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are finished with Book 1!! Thank you so much to everyone that has kept up and read this far, and for your kind words! Book 2: The Last Song, is already halfway written and we will begin posting it soon!
> 
> Again, thank you to @/edgyvege on tumblr for being the absolute best co-author I could ever ask for and for illustrating the story beautifully. And to @/pedro-pascal-love for being so kind and helping me with Star Wars lore! Y'all are literally the best.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @/starkdanverss!
> 
> Happy Reading!


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